Accenture has clinched a £25m contract to transform West Midlands Police force’s IT system.
The five-year deal – also the biggest in the force’s history – will see Accenture design a new operating model with officers and local partners and communities to help inform operational decisions from 2015 to 2020.
The firm, chosen after a tendering process, also aims to provide West Midlands Police with mobile technologies to help front-line officers as well as improving the force’s project and programme management capabilities.
The force stipulated that it wants digital technologies to be accessible to the public as it seeks to improve communication and help people view public safety information.
While Accenture will also provide the force with analytics tools to use data to support investigations, HP has been tasked with designing a new IT infrastructure to underpin the new technologies.
Payments to Accenture will be linked to outcomes and budget savings.
Chief Constable Chris Sims said: "Today police forces need the latest technologies to assist in the fight against crime and to help protect communities. A more efficient operating environment supported by the greater use of technology will help us deliver better service to the public while reducing costs and maintaining a strong visible presence on the streets."
The news comes after Accenture extended its big data services with an alliance with Hortonworks, the suppliers of Hadoop.
